“Because of me,” Kristos broke in. The handsome nineteen-year-old had grown tall like his father. Nico would have given anything for a son like him, but fate had stepped in once again the way it had done when he himself was nineteen, robbing him of any happiness for a long, long time.
“Isn’t college going well for you?”
“That’s not it. Mama’s upset because I’ve met a girl and want to get engaged now. We’re thinking a wedding at the end of August. By then the apartment we’ve settled on near the university will be free.”
She shook her head. “It’s way too soon for you to be so involved
. Your life is only beginning, darling. I’m sure her mother would say the same thing. You need to wait several years at least. Your father would be in total agreement with me.”
“That’s not true, Mama. I’ve done my military service and have an important job in the family business. I can support us, and both our college classes are going along fine. It’s not too soon. We’re in love and don’t want to wait.”
Irena’s eyes met Nico’s, pleading with him to do something about this. He knew Tio’s stubborn father was behind Irena’s hesitation. The older man hadn’t approved of Tio’s marriage and was now interfering in his grandson’s love life.
“What’s her name, Kristos?”
“Dimitra Remis.”
“Tell me about her.”
His warm gray eyes lit up. “She’s eighteen, smart and gorgeous.”
Nico grinned. “Of course she is.”
“She’s barely eighteen,” a troubled Irena informed him.
“Dimitra goes to the University of Salonica too, Uncle Nico. I can’t begin to describe how wonderful she is.”
Kristos was definitely smitten. “Tell me about her mother and father.”
“Her parents are Greek. They fell in love. However, through unavoidable circumstances, they lost touch with each other and he disappeared from her mother’s life before she ever knew she was pregnant.”
“That’s very sad.” Nico thought about the unborn child he’d lost when Raisa had died. “It’s tragic the man never knew he had a daughter.”
“Dimitra always wanted to know him. That ache will never go away for her.”
“Of course not,” Nico murmured. Certain aches always remained, as Nico knew so well. His yearning to have a family of his own would always be there, but it hadn’t been meant to be.
“I’m thankful I had nineteen years with Papa,” Kristos broke in on Nico’s thoughts. “But Dimitra has still had a wonderful life. Until last August she and her mother lived with her great-grandparents in Canada. He was the Greek ambassador in Ottawa before his retirement. Since coming back to Greece, they have a home here and her mother teaches on the faculty at the University of Salonica in the language department.”
“That sounds impressive.”
“You and Mama will love Dimitra. I’ve bought her an engagement ring she doesn’t know about yet. Naturally I want to announce our engagement right away, but Mama wants us to wait.”
Irena moved the wheelchair closer. “That’s right, darling. You need time to do a little more living before making a decision that will change your life.”
Kristos looked to Nico for the answer he wanted. “What do you say?”
It was like déjà vu for Nico who understood what it was like to be painfully, excruciatingly in love at that age and want to get married. But no commitment like that should be pursued at their tender age, as he had learned the hard way.
After Mara Tito had sent back all the letters Nico had written to her nineteen years ago, unopened, he’d gotten the message and had learned a bitter truth. The true love he’d thought they’d shared after three weeks of nonstop enchantment had only been on his part. It hadn’t lasted for her. The longing to marry her and have children with her had been his dream, not hers.
The second he’d left to do his military service, she’d never thought about him again. He’d been a fool to think otherwise. When he and Tio had returned home a year later, she was nowhere to be found and untraceable. The phone number at the Vasilakis residence had been disconnected.
All the considerable resources at his disposal as an Angelis to do searches both here and in France had turned up literally nothing. After three difficult years of trying to forget her, he’d met Raisa Nephus and in time had married her.
When Nico thought of how happy Kristos was right now, it worried him that this girl he loved might not prove to love him with the same depth of passion. A real broken heart took years to get over, if ever...
“Uncle Nico?” Kristos prodded him.